Dragon
by Odat
Summary: Maka is sacrificed to the dragon Soul Eater.
1. Sacrifice

AN: Um well. Dragon!Soul. That's a thing now…

No I don't own them, wish I did.

There is a great and powerful dragon that terrorizes their city. He's known as the Soul Eater, his victims are found dead with their faces frozen in painful screams but their eyes emotionless even in death. Those who have seen the dragon say he is as pale as death itself with haunting red eyes. Many knights had gone to kill the beast and none had returned. The village at a loss decided to sacrifice a girl who had just come of age. There were many councils held to decide but it took one of the village leader's daughter volunteering. She was a bright girl, head strong and aware that she would be hard pressed to find a husband, and she cared deeply for her town and her friends. Her father was distraught; his daughter was all he really had left. But through her selflessness the town rejoiced, they threw a great feast in her honor the night before the new moon when she was to travel to the Soul Eater's mountain.

Maka looked at her family and friends, they were all trying to be happy and merry and lift her spirits. But they were all worried; they applauded her bravery and courage and commended her father for having raised such a miraculous daughter. She looked at the mountain she was to climb the next day and wondered what would happen when she met the dragon.

Her father was the only one given the honor of seeing her off. They had dressed her in an uncomfortable white dress that dragged behind her slightly. Her father's apologies and wailings went unnoticed to her as they walked to the edge of town. When they reached the final gate, where he was no longer allowed to follow her, Maka turned to him, kissed him on the cheek and forgave him for his transgressions. She told him she loved him and with that left before he could stop her.

Once she was a modest distance away, Maka collected her skirt together in a knot at her knees so that it would not drag and detoured to an outcropping of rocks. There she found her sword, belted it to her hip and continued on her way. She knew it would be a futile effort, but she would rather try to make something of her sacrifice rather than just appease the monster for a short while.

The nearer she drew to the summit the colder it became. The wind tore at her cloak though it hardly offered much warmth at all. Sometimes Maka swore she could see snow whipping by her but she continued on to where they had figured the dragon would live. Skirting along a cliff the mountain evened out and she found herself starting at the rolling clouds below her. The wind began to pick up, though not in normal direction, it seemed to come at her from all sides and that was when she heard the sound of wings.

Hastily drawing her sword Maka readied herself to die, she had thought about many things during her journey here and come to terms with herself. But she had promised herself she wouldn't die without a fight. The dragon landed a length away from her, his white scales glistening from flying through the clouds. Maka brandished her sword which made the dragon cock his head to the side to examine her. She was shaking from the cold and her adrenaline as he looked at her with one great red eye and then the other before he seemed to decide something and settled down on the ground. His wings folded neatly to rest on his back as he crossed his front legs over one another in an almost civil fashion.

Maka wasn't sure what to do, she could stab him in the eye, but surely he would see it coming and just lift his head. His breast plate was far too well armored to pierce with her sword. "Just, now what?" She spluttered. The dragon blinked at her before a particularly violent gust of wind had her staggering towards his head. Maka shivered, but it had nothing to do with the cold, his red eyes were unnerving and they had not left her since he had landed. "Are you going to eat me or not?" Maka spat at him, "I'm the sacrifice from the village so you'll leave them alone. So get it over with already!"

The dragon snorted and before her eyes disappeared as a cloud rolled over them.

"You're not very sacrificial for a sacrifice." A very masculine and gravelly voice called from within the cloud, Maka's breath caught in her throat. She wasn't sure dragons could speak, but who else could have said such a thing.

"I'm not going to eat you." He was right in front of her, she startled, dropping her sword when two strong arms shot out to catch her around the waist before she could fall backwards. The cloud passed and she was left looking at a man with two bright crimson eyes with slit pupils.

"Then what are you going to do with me?" Her voice was softer than she had meant it to be.

"Keep you." The dragon Soul Eater all but purred in her ear.


	2. Hoard

**AN:** I apologize for how short this is, but I liked where it ended and I didn't want to push it further just yet. There will of course be more, I promise. As to when there will be more, I can't say. Enjoy.

**Hoard**

He wasn't sure what had come over him, he should have just eaten her. Not that she would have made much of a meal, all scrawny and bony; but she amused him. It had been many years since something had amused him, or even caught his interest. It was about time that he started to hoard again, he'd hardly been collecting and she was a perfect new addition. Her waist was small under his hands, the white dress she was in was far too large and she was even smaller than he'd originally thought. He grinned, she would have made a terrible snack.

The girl flinched and tried to lean back but his hands kept her from moving too far away. He realized after a moment his teeth probably scared her, he gave her credit for not fainting at the sight of him though. He smirked and she shivered, this girl would definitely amuse him. Her green eyes surprised him, she didn't appear to be afraid of him. "You're quite defiant, aren't you little one?" She shivered again and glared. "Sleep."

It was a simple spell and Maka found that she could no longer keep her eyes open, she struggled for a moment to stay conscious, but the dragon was adjusting his hold on her and his chest was quite warm against her cold cheeks; perhaps a moment of rest would not be such a bad thing her head sang. Maka thought that the dragon muttered something but she couldn't quite understand from the warm haze of sleep.

He swore that if she were a cat she would have been purring, the girl had snuggled right up against him much to his shock and remained to be perfectly content even as he walked to the entrance of his dwelling. The farther he walked down into the heart of the mountain the more troubled he became, the girl could prove to be a huge inconvenience for him; having a pet was not something he had really considered when he had crafted his home. He could spare some of his furs and pillows for her to make her own nest, but what would she do while he was off hunting? He had many great treasures in his hoard, but much of it was quite private and he quickly decided that she did not need to see much of it. The gold and the jewels he could care less about but there were other things that he would need to put walls around. He sighed and it ruffled her hair. "Defiant and already causing me trouble. Just what have I done?" He wondered aloud.

Maka woke slowly, she was warm and she could feel her toes. She considered sliding further down into the furs to hide her nose from the chill in the room when she realized neither she nor her father kept furs on their beds. She sat up quickly and scanned the room, except it wasn't so much of a room as a cavern. She wanted to look around at the rugs on the floors or the art leaning against the walls, but she immediately met the red eyes of the dragon. He was perched on an ornate chest across from her with a lazy grin on his face. Maka tried not to shy away from his gaze. "It's rude to stare." She reminded him before feeling very self conscious when he burst out laughing.

"So you're feisty as well. You just might be worth the trouble." He was grinning again as he moved off the chest and to the fire roaring off to the side of the cavern in a nook. "Your people call me the Soul Eater yes?" He eyed her over his shoulder, the girl was small in his nest but he liked how she looked among the pillows. Her eyebrows furrowed before she answered.

"Yes, because of how painfully they seem to die. As thought their souls had been taken." Her tone was harsh. He hummed for a moment.

"Then you may simply call me Soul. And had you noticed that those who I ate," he chuckled at the term, "never seemed to be good people?" Maka stopped her retort, the more she thought about it, the more he was right. Each of those who had died, were suspected of terrible things though many were never brought to justice.

"So you're a dragon with a conscious? A set of morals?" She spat.

"No. I simply feed off the evil in people." The girl began to argue, claiming that there was no way that all of the people they had found dead were evil people. Soul snorted in disgust. "You didn't pay very close attention to your village. That baker of yours was doing terrible things to his children." His lips curled in disgust; that soul had been particularly slimy and Soul had taken great pleasure in ridding the family of their father.

"So you were just protecting us?" Her utter disbelief was evident.

"No, I was surviving, you just happened to benefit from it." He shrugged and turned his attention back to the fire. A chill had crept into his home while he had been gone and that simply wouldn't do now that he had a pet. He turned back to her, "Well little one, not quite the monster you were expecting." She raised her chin in a small act of rebelliousness but did not argue with him.

"Maka."

"Say again?"

"My name is Maka, not "little one."" She answered. Soul was surprised, his pet already had a name.

"I will call you by your name when I am completely certain I won't eat you." Her squeak made him chuckle. "Until then, you'll just have to make do, little one." He grinned at her and this time she didn't flinch at the sight of his teeth.


	3. Cold

AN: Oh you're gonna hate me. But I already have a small start to the 4th chapter. I have another fic in the works right now that I think is at about 20 pages right now. That should be done by the end of the month hopefully. Don't own them.

They settled into a strange routine that involved glaring on her part and growling on his. He was infuriating but mostly because Soul enjoyed watching her flush travel from her cheeks down to her neck and sometimes is she was mad enough to her chest. He'd been lounging across from her by the fire with his shirt and pants loose around his hips which seemed to make her sputter indignantly, much to his amusement. She'd taken the rolls and smoked meat he'd offered hesitantly before eating happily in her nook.

His pet had been horrified when she'd realized she had been sleeping in his nest of furs and insisted that she make her own. He'd shrugged not caring either way. She was careful to always keep an eye on him, everything she'd ever been taught said that he was dangerous; a thoughtless mindless beast that killed indiscriminately. He looked lazier than anything else though, completely relaxed and napping like he didn't have a care in the world. Maka wasn't sure what to make of the Soul Eater, he hadn't hurt her just threatened to eat her and made fun of her, but he'd been over all indifferent towards her presence.

The boundaries he'd set up around the entrances to the lower levels where his real hoard was kept had gone unnoticed. He couldn't decide if her lack of magic was a good thing or not. She'd be more of a problem if she had any training, but she may have been more entertaining. Without magic it was just too easy, but less of a hassle.

Night had fallen and Soul could taste the storm and the cold coming. Winter was lasting longer than usual this year and there would be more preparation than before if he wanted to keep his pet fed as well as himself. He sighed, winters as a dragon were not something he enjoyed; the cold slowed his blood down even as a human and it crept into his bones chilling him from the inside out. He stood at the tunnel that led to the entrance feeling the storm as cold air washed over his bare feet.

The girl, Maka she'd said her name was, had fallen asleep with her nose under a book. He rolled his eyes and made his way over to her wondering why he was bothering with her. She let go of the book easily and Soul pulled one of the furs up to cover her completely before going to his own nest. It was going to be a cold night and if he didn't stay warm he was going to wake up stiff and in a bad mood in the morning.

Maka waited until she heard the rustle of furs and even then she didn't move until his breath was even and slow. She'd kept her boots on and had been using the worn cloak as a light blanket before the dragon had decided to pull the furs up. That action had startled her; it was much too kind and gentle for someone like him. It didn't fit with her ideas of his behavior. She scoffed silently and slowly made her way out of the cave. The soft crackle of the fire helped to cover the sound of her steps on the stone floor when there weren't any rugs to step on. Maka kept an eye on him as she moved trying to gauge if any of her movements had woken him but he continued to sleep.

She was patient until she reached the hall and bolted. She dashed up the sloped path on her toes so the heels of her boots wouldn't echo back to the cavern. The walls were jagged and when Maka turned a corner too quickly she cut her shoulder. It was enough to make her yelp in surprise more out of pain but the sharp sting that followed had her gritting her teeth. She gave up trying to be quiet and ran with one hand over the gash trying to staunch the blood.

It was like running into a wall of ice, the snow was coming down in thick clumps and the winds were even fiercer than when she had traveled up the mountain. The cold was immediate; it cut right through her core making Maka shiver painfully. She stood for a moment trying to get her bearings but the snow was too thick and she could barely see two feet in front of her. "If I turn around, I'm sure to die. But if I try to brave this, I'm likely to die as well." She half muttered through freezing lips. The trek up had been hazardous when the visibility was good, but now in a blizzard it would be almost impossible to tell the edge of a cliff from a simple step down. While the Soul Eater had done her no harm, she didn't fancy being fattened up and eaten later. "Snow it is." The winds tore the words from her mouth as she stomped through the snow to try to return home.

Soul awoke slowly to the smell of copper. Something wasn't quite right his magic kept whispering something was off. The cold had settled into the mountain making him groggy, but his instincts were shouting that he needed to be awake. Between the magic tingling in his fingertips and the hairs on the back of his neck standing up Soul managed to shake of most of the cold before standing to inspect his home for any disturbance, he immediately knew what was wrong. "Stupid, good for nothing, should have just eaten her in the first place!" He continued his tirade as he grasped for his boots and an old black coat he'd previously shoved under a pelt as a pillow. His slow reaction time to the smell of blood worried him.

He found the rock that had cut her, but the blood was cold and beginning to turn brown, it wasn't fresh and she had a good head start on him. Soul ran, he wouldn't be able to be out in the storm for long but he needed to find her. Even through the cold smell of ice he could smell the blood trail and find small drops in the snow.

Maka was struggling to stay upright; the storm was even worse than she had anticipated and blood was dripping down her limp arm. The cold air hurt to breathe and each time she stumbled she could only hope that she was still moving in the right direction. A roar sent Maka running as quickly as she could through the snow, she screamed but the tore the sound away when she was tackled into the snow. The dragon was livid, his eyes a ferocious red and she couldn't tell hair from snow. He pulled Maka up and slung her over his shoulder with a snarl that not even the wind could take away. His movements were jerky and slow but his grip was tight around her.

He was walking slowly and Maka wasn't sure if it was because of the storm or not. His own breathing was labored and he was gripping her so tightly it hurt. They couldn't have been more than a few hundred yards from the entrance of the cave when the dragon sank to one knee. His scowl was practically frozen on his face and his body wasn't cooperating anymore. He wasn't going to be able to drag himself or his pet back to the warmth of the cave. The girl managed to break free and was running again as he finally slumped into the snow, too cold to move.

Maka wasn't sure what was wrong with him or why he'd stopped but she wasn't going to get another chance like this one. She glanced back, surely he'd get up and go back to his home, but he was still lying in the snow, black cloak billowing out behind him. Maka stopped, completely torn; if she left him there he would die. But he was a dragon! She could go back to the village a hero. But he'd died trying to bring her back, Maka swore with each step she took back towards the dragon. She would not have his inadvertent idiotic death on her conscious. He was cold to the touch which worried her but she managed to sling his arm over her shoulder and start to drag him back to the cave.


	4. Pillowed

AN: Wait for it. Wait for it. Yup this is the second update in the same month. You're welcome. Now just don't hurt me. I half heartedly blame Poisoned Scarlett for giving me dragon feels, hence this was written in a rather timely manner. Part 2 of Northern Man will be up next week.

I don't own them.

Soul should have known he was going to wake up cold, stiff, and grouchy no matter what, storms that bad were impossible to deal with. But as he blinked back the sand and what he suspected may have once been ice from his eyes, he was surprisingly warm. He was still colder than he preferred but warmer than he should have been. He felt sluggish and too heavy but that was a consequence of being cold-blooded and becoming chilled. He tried to sit up, but there was something solid pinning his right arm and resting on his chest. Soul's eyes narrowed dangerously when he remembered his pet escaping and then the bone deep cold that he'd been caught in. He glanced down, but couldn't see past tousled blond hair. His pet was draped over and tucked into him and apparently acting as his own person heater.

There were furs draped haphazardly over them, like she'd tried to pull them up with one hand. Her breathing was even but her brow was furrowed like she was displeased with something. Soul figured that it was him and tried to smooth the lines with a gentle brush of his thumb before he really knew what he was doing. This little woman had dragged him back to his cave instead of leaving him to die and escaping. He reached for the furs and pulled them up farther so they were both covered. It felt too early to be truly awake and sleep sounded nice.

After being so thoroughly chilled, Maka wasn't sure that she was ever going to be warm again. She had barely managed to get them back inside and she was almost thankful that her fingers had practically frozen while she was grasping him. She'd cursed her morals, the dragon, the snow and everything else she could think of when he wouldn't warm up by the fire. It had taken her a while to convince herself that it would be warmer for her as well if she was next to him. But eventually she'd arranged them in a way that was comfortable if far too intimate for her liking. Maka had enjoyed whispering death threats and retaliation until she'd fallen asleep gently wrapped in the dragon's arms.

This was not how she had fallen asleep, she was sure of it. She'd been tucked against his side using his chest as a pillow and not completely smothered by his arms wrapped around her. He'd turned on his side and was holding her against him, their legs tangled together and her toes warm against his calves. Maka didn't dare breathe; she was mortified regardless of how comfortable she was. Her nose was too close to his collar bone and her eyes followed a pale scar until they met lazy red eyes. She squeaked but the only place to hide was against his chest which wouldn't help her at all.

He'd been awake for a while, it was now the late morning and he hadn't felt the need to wake her, plus Soul had been looking forward to her reaction of their position. He wasn't disappointed. She turned bright red and started to sputter what may have been threats but her voice was high it she sounded more like bird. Soul laughed, warm and amused, not a bad way to wake up for a second time, his pet did not take kindly to his laughing and started to beat his chest with her fists. "You vile, horrid, useless, cold blooded reptile! I saved your scaly hide and you're laughing at me? Unhand me you awful lizard!" He realized belatedly as she thrashed against him that his favorite part of riling her up wasn't the way her skin flushed, but the way her eyes became clear and so intently focused.

Soul also realized just how strong he was when she finally landed a punch to his side. He huffed and released her; Maka was out of his arms and across the room before he could blink. She had her arms crossed over herself and was shaking badly. "Why didn't I leave?" She asked herself trying to not look at the dragon.

"I'd be interested in that answer as well." He responded. Soul did feel a bit bad for cuddling her against her will; he hadn't expected such strong aversion or repulsion from her. Was he really so awful? She eyed him warily as though he might jump her or force her back into the nest. Apparently he was. "I apologize for laughing at you, little one. You amuse me, that is all." The dragon's sincere apology threw Maka for a loop, she hadn't expected that.

"Thank you. I suppose some of my comments were rather harsh." He raised an eyebrow; he wasn't letting her off the hook that easily. Maka decided to play dirty, "And you're welcome for saving your life." Soul snorted and glared at the hearth.

Soul stood but didn't approach her, "I suppose a thank you is in order for that."

"Does that mean I can leave and you won't stop me?" The words came rushing out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

He stared at her, "I said a thank you, not a full pardon, and you were sacrificed to me, little one." He scoffed, "What makes you think I'll ever let you go?"

Maka bit her lip, so there was no way out. "For what reason? Why keep me?"

Soul stopped himself from blurting out "midnight snack" and considered why he had kept her. "You amuse me." He said again with a shrug. It was the truth and he had no real interest in examining just why he was so taken with her.

"I saved your life, you could at least decide not to eat me and call me by my name."

"I spared your life, little one, and you saved mine, yes. So now we're even on that account. But you're still mine." His words were final and to further prove his point he turned his back to her to try and rekindle the fire. He'd been stacking the leftover wood and kindling when something hit his back. There was a pillow on the floor and his pet had two more in her hands. Too stunned to move the next pillow hit him directly in the face.

"My name is Maka!" She shouted before throwing a third and a fourth pillow. He swatted them down and advanced on her.

"And I told you I'd call you by your name when I'm sure I won't eat you, tiny tits!" He roared back. Maka gaped at him, looked down at her chest and then back to him. She was seething. Soul quickly found out how deadly her aim was with a book when he took one to the forehead.

"You are not helping your case if you don't want to be eaten." He growled. Maka ignored him and continued to chuck whatever she could get her hands on at him.

"You don't even eat people! You eat souls for crying out loud, Soul Eater!" Her tone was mocking and she paused for a second to look for more ammunition. Soul took advantage of the opening.

"Doesn't mean that I wouldn't enjoy the feel of you between my teeth." He was right in front of her and before she could retaliate he was holding both of her wrists in one hand. Soul pushed her back against the wall of the cavern and brought her wrists above her head. Green eyes watched, but she was still too angry to be frightened by him. "Should I start here?" He nosed at the corner of her jaw before swiping his tongue against her skin. It was rough, almost like a cat's and it pulled at her skin; Maka's resolve steeled, she would not give him the satisfaction of her voice. "Or perhaps here?" He had to bend down to lick at the hollow of her throat but it was worth her shiver. He worried the skin with his overly sharp teeth, enjoying the way she quivered before pulling back to look at her.

"Remember little one, I am a dragon." She met his gaze and refused to look away.

"And you remember this," She hissed, "I will never be yours."


	5. Fever

**AN:** Ah um so. Hi? Been a while? Sorry? I won't promise that it won't happen again, but I kinda lost the story for a while. BUT. I know what I'm doing again! So! Be excited! Cause this story is gonna actually be kinda really interesting (least I hope so). Thanks for all the kind reviews and being so patient with me. Anyway, here's chapter five of Dragon.

Don't own 'em.

* * *

"They say that you're the best at what you do." The little light offered from the candles was shrouded by thick clouds of pipe smoke. The knight seemed at ease in the dank environment or he simply wasn't bothered by it. A brawl broke out and one of the bar maidens shrieked. There were dozens of laws being broken but Spirit did his best to turn a blind eye, he had business with the knight.

"I am the very best. I'll slay the beast and be back before sundown."

"And your price?"

The knight grinned and leaned forward, his armor was highly polished and glinted in the darkness, "The hand of the fair maiden I rescue should suffice. But if she's ugly, a bag of gold." Spirit was torn between defending his daughter's beauty and demanding that the knight take the gold instead. "Excalibur and I will vanquish the dragon that plagues you and free your daughter!" The knight's outburst was drowned out by the cheering of the drunken mob and Spirit pulled his cloak tighter around him.

She was making him uncomfortable in his own home. His pet had been uncharacteristically quiet after their fight; she'd retreated to her nest in the far corner and burrowed into the blankets and furs. It'd been nice to have some semblance of normalcy in his cave right up until her silence started to annoy him as well. The food he left for her was barely touched and she ignored all of his insults which further irked him.

Soul wanted to fly, magic thrummed along his shoulders and the cave was beginning to feel cramped. Open skies and cold winds would do him a world of good, but he could still taste the snow outside. He needed to go hunting for soul as well as replenish his food stores, keeping his pet fed was draining them rather quickly. Rolling his shoulder in annoyance, Soul glanced over to where the girl was sleeping. Blond hair was hardly visible but he could see her shivering from under the thick blankets. Watching her was oddly calming from his perch by the hearth. The cave was warmed by the fire and his magic insulated and radiated heat, there was no reason for her to be cold.

A small whimper caught his attention and Soul scowled. "I haven't even threatened to eat you today, little one, why are you crying?" He crossed the cave until he was standing over her little nest. "Little one?" There was a weak cough and she shivered harder when he kneeled down and pulled the blankets back. Her face was flushed with the fever he could feel and he wasn't even touching her. Soul reached forward to clutch her shoulders but stopped when he noticed the dark stain on her shoulder. A growl escaped and she blearily opened glassy eyes, "Your shoulder was never treated."

She screamed and he fell back startled, his pet kept trying to scramble away from him but she was so wrapped in the furs and blankets she couldn't get away. "Little one, stop thrashing!" Soul growled at her while trying to see how bad the wound was and avoid her flailing limbs. His pet was completely terrified however and fought back as much as she could, "Enough!" Soul finally roared after she elbowed him in the cheek. Her face crumpled and she openly sobbed, he stopped he hadn't meant to scare her even more.

"Little one, I'm not trying to hurt you." She flinched when his fingers brushed her arm. "I need to look at your shoulder, alright?" Soul kept his voice soft and low as he inched towards her, there were still tears streaming down her face and her arms were clasped in front of her chest. A shudder racked her body when the tips of his fingers finally brushed around the tear on her shoulder. Her skin was hot even through the fabric and he could just see the red irritated skin underneath. Glancing back to her face was a mistake. Her eyes were clenched shut in pain and fear and it startled Soul just how much he didn't want her to be afraid of him.

He needed to get her closer to the fire and he needed to clean out her shoulder. "Maka, I'm going to pick you up, alright?" She blinked at him and cringed when Soul leaned forward. He hushed her when she cried out and quickly picked her up holding her close with one arm around her back and the other under her knees, careful not to jostle her shoulder or upset her further. All fight left her and that troubled Soul almost as much as when she'd been terrified of him.

The world was either moving too quickly while she was standing still or she was moving too fast for the world to keep up. There was a constant uncomfortable buzz in the back of her mind and she felt overheated and cold all at once. Darkness dripped over her and covered her eyes to everything except a vicious red eyed demon that snarled at her, sharp teeth glinted in the black and they threatened to swallow her whole. There was no escape from the rumbling or the pain no matter how hard she tried.

But then she was warm, there was a sharp ache in her shoulder that echoed through her whole body and made her want to curl up on herself but the solid warmth kept her still and hummed soothingly. It didn't last long and the humming chased away the uncomfortable buzz and Maka found that she hurt less when she moved closer to the warmth. Maybe the red wasn't so terrifying, it was more concerned and gentle, it wrapped her up and she felt safe. Maka liked that and decided that maybe red wasn't such bad color after all.

She'd settled against him with a soft sigh once he was done cleaning her shoulder and Soul resisted growling at her for letting it get infected. He'd shredded her dress to get at the wound but tried to preserve as much of her modesty as he could. There was a trunk with silks and other garments tucked away somewhere, he'd let her go through it to pick something more comfortable when she was awake. Until then, Soul figured he could keep her warm, but as soon as she started to wake he would leave the nest. The last thing they needed was a repeat from the last time they woke up together.

As much as he wanted to nap and enjoy the heat from the fire and her form against him, Soul instead focused and unfocused his eyes on his pet. The world shifted into a sharper focus and the light from the fire became almost unbearably bright, but Soul watched the shallow breaths and the flutter of the girl's eyelashes until the red tendrils of his magic appeared. His magic was its own entity that relied on instincts rather than common sense and he had only been foolish enough to ignore it twice before he learned that the magic wouldn't lead him astray.

Red laced through the walls and the floor of the cave, radiating from the concentrated sparking fire in the hearth and gathered around him and his pet. The realization that his magic was healing her, just like it did him when he was injured, almost startled him out of his enhanced sight. Magic wove around the angry red of her skin and Soul could actually watch the worst of her wound heal. He huffed lightly, he had so little control over his own magic that it was healing her of its own volition, but he knew better than to ignore it. If his magic had decided that she was important enough to heal, then maybe she wasn't just a pet to amuse him.

"Well little one, the magic says that you're already mine."

The world seemed duller when he blinked away the magic and Soul finally gave into his desire to nap. It was a pity his pet didn't like napping with him because he found it quite comfortable. His last thought before he fell asleep was that he'd said her name and rather liked how it sounded.

She wasn't warm anymore, or she wasn't as warm as she wished, but she wasn't overwhelmingly cold either. Maka stirred trying to figure out what was missing. Unable to find comfort in the pillows or blankets she peeked out and groaned when she once again found herself in the dragon's nest by the hearth. He was at least missing this time, rather than being curled around her. It took her a moment to scan the cave, but the dragon didn't appear to be lounging in any of his normal spots.

She sat up and fought back a shiver, why were the tops of her shoulders cold? The white dress was in tatters around her chest and the cut on her shoulder from when she'd tried to escape had been wrapped. A grunt and the sound of something being dragged made her glance back to one of the far walls of the cave where the dragon was pulling a chest, Maka was sure that a moment ago he hadn't been there. He looked over to the nest and seemed to be surprised that she was looking back at him.

"There should be some shirts in here." He grumbled before turning away. "I have to go hunting, little one, which leaves you with two options. One, I chain you to the cave so you don't escape and further injure yourself or two, you swear that you will not move from that nest otherwise I will eat you."

"You?" Maka's voice was raspy and she couldn't finish her question as she started to cough violently. Soul was at her side almost immediately and pushing a roughly made clay mug into her hands for her to drink from. "You took care of me?" Her disbelief that the vicious dragon Soul Eater would have taken care of her shoulder and fever. "Why?"

His smirk would have been much more menacing if he hadn't taken the mug from her hands so gently when she was done drinking. "Rest little one, you've been quite sick. I'll be back with food." Soul stood quickly and shot her a grin over his shoulder when she was sitting up in the nest and watching him, he found the crease between her eyebrows rather endearing. He rolled his shoulders as he walked out of the cave and shifted into his bright white scales and wings without looking back.


	6. Move

AN: AHAHAHA. I don't even know anymore. Chapter six, it's a thing. I hope you like the thing.

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"You promised you wouldn't move."

"All I did was get a book."

He'd been gone for several hours and Maka had grown quite bored of constantly napping. She hadn't seen the dragon read, but he had stacks of books scattered throughout the entire cave. Many of them were in other languages that used symbols or different alphabets, some she knew of and could sound out the words she recognized but there were books that were so old and foreign to her that Maka wondered if the languages were even still alive. It had been hard to choose just one book to bring back into the nest with her, but she'd selected what appeared to be a chronicle of legends.

When Soul had lumbered back into his cave and found her propped up with the book in her lap he'd snorted and set the knotted blanket full of food down near the hearth. His pet had stiffened when she's glanced up and seen that he was a dragon, but she still met his eyes without hesitation. Soul grinned as much as he could and shifted down in a swirl of thick white mists that quickly dissipated when he stepped forward as a man once more.

His frown was more humorous that it was serious as he eyed the book she'd chosen. "Taking notes on how to be a proper sacrifice? 'Cause I think it involves a lot more groveling, little one." Her scoff made him grin even more and she carefully marked her page and then hurled the book at him. Soul laughed outright when he caught it which made her pout. "Think you need to read a bit more, damsels in distress aren't supposed to fight back."

"And dragons aren't supposed to play with their food either." She shot back when he turned to unpack the food he'd gathered. "Or help them when they're sick." The accusation was overshadowed by questions she didn't know how to ask. "Dragon?"

"I said you could call me Soul."

"And I told you that my name is Maka." The way she growled her name as if it was supposed to intimidate him was cute enough to make him grin again. He handed her a bowl of steaming broth with thick cut slices of bread.

"Yes and we both know how that conversation ended last time." Soul forced a spoonful of broth into her mouth if only to distract his little pet.

"I can do it just fine, thank you very much!" Maka sputtered after stealing the spoon from him.

"You're very welcome, little one." He teased but quickly moved away when she made to hit him with the spoon. His pet was decidedly dangerous when armed but he rather liked how feisty she was, even while sick. Soul returned to the hearth and finished unpacking the food he'd gathered. The last thing in the bundle was a small box of tea that he'd seen and hadn't been able to resist buying, he wondered if it would be the same blend he remembered from so long ago.

Soul ventured back to the nest to retrieve the mug she'd been using and to see how she was progressing on her meal. Maka made several attempts to whack him with the spoon but she was careful not to spill and broth that was left on the nest for which he was grateful and her range was fairly limited because of her shoulder. Chuckling while she glowered, Soul snatched the mug from her side and his own from atop a stack of books to fill them in the water basin. The spell to redirect one of the underground streams into the basin had been a pain and he'd flooded his cave twice trying to perfect it, but the water was cool and unpolluted. It had been worth the trouble in the end.

He held a mug in each palm and Maka watched him walk back to the hearth while she soaked her last piece of bread in the broth. It had soothed her throat some and she felt better but she was still perplexed by the dragon. Her eyes widened as steam began to curl from the water in the mugs, just how had he done that?

"How? Little one, how do you keep forgetting that I'm a dragon?" Maka hadn't realized that she'd asked the question aloud. She settled on glaring at him while he smirked and made what appeared to be tea. "It's fairly simple magic to heat the water." He walked back to the nest but instead of just handing one of the steaming mugs to her, Soul decided to lounge on some of the pillows at the edge of the nest. "Let it steep for a while, otherwise it won't taste right." He cursed, wishing he'd remembered to find some honey.

She tugged at the small silk bag that the tea was kept in and studied him. "I didn't realize dragons had a sweet tooth."

"It's better with honey." He grumbled after taking a sip. Maka hid her smile by taking her own small sip of the tea.

"My mum used to use this same blend." She blurted out before she could stop herself, "It was always one of my favorites." Maka grew bashful under his heavy scrutiny but mumbled out, "Her mum made it for her too. Said that it was a specialty from the Burned City, well before it burned."

Soul stood abruptly and stalked away to the hearth where he threw the tea he had left in his mug into the fire. It was too bitter without honey anyway.

"That chest has silks in it, find something new to wear." His voice was gruff and Maka wasn't sure what had made him shift in moods so quickly. She nodded slightly even though his back was to her and finished the tea slowly. Maka had kept herself covered with one of the thinner blankets but it would be a relief to be out of the tattered white dress. When she'd left the nest to explore the stacks of books she'd still felt feverish and unsteady on her feet, but now strengthened with food and tea Maka felt better.

He'd busied himself with contemplating throwing the tea into the fire or leaving it; Soul was rather dismayed at just how hard it was for him to throw it away. His predicament was interrupted by a pained gasp and a sharp hiss. "Just what have you managed to do now?" He groaned but stopped when there was a soft hiccup of pain from her.

"Stay over there! I don't need your help, Dragon!" Maka almost wished that he'd just eaten her in the first place and saved her the embarrassment of her current situation. In trying to get her dress over her head, she had not only twisted her shoulder the wrong way but the bandage had become tangled or snagged, she wasn't sure which, on the dress and was pulling on the tender skin. "I'm fine. I don't need help." She tried to keep her voice steady through the jolts of pain and figure out how to get out of the dress.

She felt him before she heard him, the solid heat that the dragon seemed to radiate warmed her back and he steadied her with his hands on her waist when Maka jumped. "I don't understand how something so small can cause me so much trouble." It was somewhere between a growl and an exasperated sigh, Maka could practically feel him roll his eyes at her when he turned her to face him.

"Someone. I am not a something." She bit her lip when he started to untangle the dress from the bandage, "And you could always let me go, I wouldn't cause you trouble then." He scoffed and removed the dress from her head as gently as he could leaving Maka to cover her chest with her good arm and shift uncomfortably in her small cloth.

"You know I'm not letting you go. Don't really know why though, you're more of a toothpick than you are a maiden." He smirked and eyed her small chest. She sputtered indignantly,mortified and humiliated by his leer. Soul was too busy watching the flush of rage color the tops of her shoulders to see her elbow coming. She managed a quick jab and then switched arms so she had full use of her good arm to try and beat the grin right of his smug face.

"Vile, crude, terrible lizard! How dare you!" Maka spat while the dragon started to dance out of her reach.

"You're beginning to repeat yourself pet! Going to have to think up new insults!"

"Oh just give me time." She snarled but doubled over coughing violently. She sank down the rugs, tears streaming down her face as deep, lung rattling coughs shook her small frame. Soul caught her before she made it all the way to the floor and wrapped his cloak around her.

The dragon murmured gently in her ear while she continued to cough, "Little one, breathe, you're alright." Maka tried to glare at him through her watering eyes but he didn't let her go until she was done coughing. "Better?" He asked without any trace of of a smirk.

Maka managed to rasp, "I hate you," before he was settling her down to go get her more water. She knew how to deal with his smugness and even his threats but his concern had her on edge. Once again a mug full of fresh water was gently pushed into her hands. The cloak was rough on her skin but it covered her easily while he through rummaged to find something for her to wear. Maka had just finished the water when he started to throw things at her.

"What? Would you! Quit it, Dragon!" She squeaked when something gray hit her squarely in the head and covered her eyes. There was a rumble of laughter when she pulled the silky fabric off her face and Maka scowled.

His eyes were soft when he approached her and took the cloth from her hands. He shook it out and Maka finally noted that it was an incredibly large silk shirt, "That isn't decent."

"You're short enough it will be fine." The dragon shot back and started to laugh again when she looked for something to throw at him. "Here," He was holding the shirt out so she could easily slip into it, "Do not fight me on this, little one."

"Close your eyes." Maka kept her voice stern and she didn't look away as he snorted, narrowed his eyes and eventually closed them. "If you peek,"

"What will you do, little one? Throw more of my own books at me?" His voice was still playful and Maka debated if smacking him over the head while his eyes were closed would unfair. Instead she huffed and tried to arrange the shirt over herself without bothering her shoulder. "Are you done? Can I help you yet?"

"I don't need your," Maka yelped when something tweaked the wrong way, "help." She finished lamely. "I'm covered."

The shirt was enormous on her and the collar was so wide it hung to the side and off her unbandaged shoulder, she hadn't managed to get her arm through the other sleeve though. Soul didn't say anything when he took her hand and the shirt and began to adjust the fabric so she could put her arm through. He nodded when he was done, but she didn't pull her hand from his immediately. She was studying the way his fingers had curled over hers and the contrast between their skin, Soul held his breath when her thumb ghosted across the heel of his hand as he waited to see what she would do. He could feel the magic sparking along his skin and Soul wondered if she could feel it too.

Another strand of magic caught his attention and back went rigid. The same strand had also warned him while he'd been out flying that someone was approaching his cave, and he'd found his little sacrifice brandishing a sword. The wards in place around the entrance were warning that someone else had found his home and was looking to enter. Maka had frozen as well, worried that she had overstepped and that the dragon really was about to eat her. She was quite surprised when instead he scooped her and deposited her back in his nest.

"Stay there, little one." His movement were hurried and he was halfway shifted before charging out of the cave. Maka blinked before a roar shook her very bones.


	7. Hero

AN: WE NEEDED FLUFF. SO HAVE some... kinda fluff? I dunno. Here's the next bit of dragon. It's mostly fluff from here on out. You'll see.

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It wasn't hard to find the dragon's lair. Excalibur pulled and rattled in its sheath, craving blood. It had been many months since the last dragon fell to Hiro and Excalibur, if what Sir Albarn said was true, then this dragon would be one of the most fearsome he'd faced. The prospect made him grin, larger dragons were usually foolish and slow but they sounded more impressive in the ballads sung.

Snow still hid in the shadows of the jagged rocks along the mountain pass and the air held the sharp chill of winter despite the oncoming spring. It was a desolate place, gray and empty the higher up he went, his armor clinked with each step and kept most of the chill at bay. Excalibur gave a particularly strong tug forward and Hiro lay his hand over the hilt to keep it sheathed, he'd been lucky to find such a powerful magic weapon even if it was demanding. The sword's thirst for power would soon be sated, as would Hiro's desire for another pretty conquest.

Hiro had only met the girl briefly a year or two before, she'd been appealing, if a little bookish and impudent for a maiden. Perhaps the years had been kind to her; if she had filled out any he would greatly enjoy ravishing her after he saved her. Bedding the damsel in distress was his favorite part while the act of killing the beast was Excalibur's, they made a good team.

His sword began to vibrate, at first slowly and then increasingly until Hiro had to pull his hand away lest it become numb. A great outcropping of rocks was before them and a cliff overhanging the mountain behind, Hiro stood in the center of the clearing, mapping the terrain and eyeing any high point that he would be able to use to his advantage. The easiest way to kill a dragon was to hop on their back and slide Excalibur just under the wing joint, the scales there were thin and flexible and an artery ran close to the skin. The dragon would bleed out in moments with little effort or danger on Hiro's part. He had taken to cutting the head off for show, to make it look more impressive.

The ground rattled and the dragon came thundering through the cave's mouth, roaring. Hiro gasped and stepped back, not only was the dragon much larger than any other he had faced, it was fast as well. White scales shone brightly in the late afternoon sun and the dragon's red eyes immediately met his own. Excalibur surged forward as Hiro withdrew it and grinned at the dragon, slaying this beast would make him a legend among legends.

Soul shook with barely contained fury, this knight was too close to his home, his hoard, and now his pet. His magic reared to life, thrumming in his veins and along his scales ready to fight. The knight was small, hardly even the size of his head; though the sword he wielded could be dangerous, it crackled with its own magic that surrounded the knight as well.

"Ha! Be wary, foul beast! Excalibur and I shall have your head and rescue the fair maiden you have so cruelly stolen away!" The knight lunged, he was faster than he should have been, the magic from the sword was most likely the cause. "I shall enjoy her more than a beast like you ever could!" Soul swiped at him but again the knight was quicker than he should have been and slashed at Soul's forearm. Sparks flew as the sword met his scales and the two different magics fought; Soul bellowed when the sword sank into his scales instead of glancing off.

It was short but deep, he wouldn't be able to support much weight on the leg now. He snarled when the knight laughed and danced out of range of his claws. "I just hope you have not defiled her, for then she would be worthless to me!" That sword was the real enemy, not the knight at all, but he still made Soul want to rip his soul to shreds.

"Soul!" The shout startled the dragon and the knight as Maka ran out of the cave and put herself between them. The oversized grey shirt fluttered in the cold wind, exposing more of her legs than was decent and Soul noted with great displeasure that she was barefoot. He rumbled and wanted to glare at her but he didn't dare take his eyes off the knight who was watching Maka with far too much interest.

"Fair maiden! Come this way, I will protect you with my legendary sword Excalibur!" The knight's promise had Soul snarling again.

Maka yelled over her shoulder, "Go away!" and turned her attention back to Soul. He had bent his head down to wuff warm breath against her toes and she placed a small hand against his nose feeling the hard texture of his scales.

"But damsel! It is I, Hiro! Once I kill this dragon we are to be wed! Come hide behind me so I may slay the creature!" The knight stepped forward brandishing Excalibur and Soul curled himself around Maka, nudging her closer with his head. He hissed at the knight.

She was almost completely hidden from view; Soul had even prodded her onto his open paw so she wasn't standing on the cold ground, he kept his sharp claws as far from her as he could. "I don't need to be saved Hiro! Leave now!" Maka called. Soul's rumbling changed to snarling each time the knight clanked nearer. "No, Soul stop, please. Please don't kill him?"

The dragon hadn't taken his unnerving red eyes off Hiro. "Are you choosing the dragon over being saved?" Even just the idea seemed absurd, the dragon's eyes narrowed.

Maka tried to see where the knight was but Soul was too large and bent around her, "No! I'm not choosing him! I'm just trying to save your life! Now go!" A cough shook her and Soul moved even closer. He was warm but she was not dressed to be outside, even if she wasn't choosing him, he thought viciously. The urge to just kill the knight was becoming hard to resist. Hiro seemed perplexed but he had stopped advancing on the crouched dragon and Excalibur was loose in his hand has he tried to process that Maka didn't want to be saved. "Hiro, go now!"

Soul snapped his teeth at Hiro once before lowering his head again to nudge Maka onto his snout. With a flick of his tail, Soul turned and limped back to the cave entrance where he set Maka down and pushed her forward with a rumble. "Don't kill him? Please, Soul?" He pushed her forward again and turned just enough to face Hiro who still hadn't sheathed his sword. Soul roared until the idiotic knight ran in the other direction. Maka was his little one, and his alone. Even if she was foolish enough to run between a dragon and a knight barefoot. He blinked slowly, reinforcing the wards around his home and hiding the entrance before limping after the girl who had said she wasn't choosing him.

She wasn't too far away, Maka was leaning against a wall, breathing heavily, a bout of coughing had caught her off guard. Soul just rolled his eyes at her and nudged her back onto his snout, normally he would have carried her in a paw or at least put her on his back, but his leg was still bleeding despite his magic wrapping around the wound.

It was strange being on the dragon's nose as she was, but he supported her easily and went cross eyed every time he looked at her. "You didn't kill him did you? He was just an idiot." Soul very carefully shook his head and Maka ran a hand over his brow bone in thanks. His scales were warm, but she had caught a chill and couldn't seem to stop shivering no matter how hard she tried. It startled her that she was hoping the dragon would drop her in his nest and possibly that he would join her as well.

Maka shook her head and waited to be deposited in the nest but Soul kept walking towards the back of the cave. He grunted and part of the back wall dispelled in shimmer of strange red lights that fell and faded into the cave floor, a tunnel lit by torches that ignited themselves as they lumbered past sloped down and curved until they were in another cavern. It was smaller and darker than what seemed to be the main area and the air was thick with steam, Maka noticed. Soul let her slide down and stepped back to shift down. His mists and the steam made it hard to see her hand in front of her own face, but she could hear the dragon groan.

"Dragon? Are you well? You were limping." Maka kept her voice soft but it still echoed around them.

"Oh, so we are back to 'Dragon' again, are we?" He was right in front of her and scowling. "Only going to call me by my name when you're trying to save your fiancé's life?" She sputtered but was too shocked to even swat his hands away when he started to tug at the buttons on her shirt. "Not that you're leaving. Ever." Maka finally did push him away to cover herself and glare at him.

Annoyed with her lack of reaction and annoyed with the world, Soul ignored the throbbing pain in his arm, picked her up and walked forward. Now she started to sputter about indecency, touchy feely dragons, names and Hiro, he growled and lowered her into the pool of water she hadn't noticed. It was deep enough to cover her chest in this part, but shallow enough that the bandage on her shoulder wouldn't get wet. The slight currents in the pool that kept the water clean and warm played with the loose grey shirt and the tips of her hair that touched the water.

"You were so determined to protect him, you must truly care a lot." He sneered and she moved out of his reach. Soul undid the clasp that held his heavy cloak on and shucked off his own shirt to inspect the cut on his arm. It always hurt when his magic reformed the wound to his form, sometimes more than the wound itself. It was still quite deep and blood ran freely from it to Soul's displeasure. His magic was knitting back together the worst of the damage, but it would take time to heal.

"I would never marry a man like Hiro." It was barely a whisper but he heard it, he glanced at her. The girl was very careful to not look at him and it was hard to tell if the flush on her face was from the hot water or her embarrassment. "Not that it matters. I'm not leaving." There was no real venom behind her words, she was too tired and the pool had sapped the little energy she had left. It felt nice to just float in the warm water.

Soul blinked at her and watched as she swayed on tip toes in the water. "Good." She looked at him curiously; he shifted moods more quickly than anyone she had ever met. His hands were undoing his belt buckle and Maka immediately turned away.

"Dragon! Just- just what exactly are you doing?" Maka's indignant squeak made him chuckle.

"Well, we are in the bathing pool, and unlike you I prefer to enter the water without my clothing." Soul teased. The rustle of cloth being dropped to the floor made her squeak again and tightly cover herself with the wet silk shirt she still wore. "Now do you wish for a knight to save you, damsel?" He mocked while stepping into the water.

Maka kept her back to him and her eyes closed but choked out, "Don't call me that! And don't come near me, Dragon!"

"Do you prefer being called "little one" then?" He asked genuinely curious as he settled himself on a low bench. Steam rolled off the surface of the water and it gently lapped at the edges of the pool.

She was quiet for a moment, "Yes." It surprised him and he grinned lazily.

"There are soaps over here, little one." He murmured, the warmth of the water and the fight making him drowsy.

"That would be indecent."

"I am too tired to even tease you properly. Do you really think I would try something?" He shot back. Maka glanced at him over her shoulder, the bandages had gotten wet and would need to be changed later but it didn't ache as much as she was expecting. The dragon looked half asleep with his arms on the edge of the pool, submerged half way. A scar bisected his chest running from one shoulder down into the water to- Maka felt her face heat at just the thought and averted her eyes.

"No, but it is still indecent." It both surprised her and didn't that she truly believed that he wouldn't try anything. Even if it had ended in a shouting match and with her pinned to the cave wall, Maka blushed at the thought of his tongue on her skin, he had not even cuddled her against her will.

"Your loss, I think I have some of those new liquid soaps. For some reason they smell like flowers." He kept his eyes closed as she tentatively approached.

"Do not open your eyes, Dragon." The shirt was wrapped around her but it was translucent and hid nothing.

"Call me Soul again and I promise that I will not open my eyes." He grinned in her direction and yelped when she swatted his hand. She was closer than he had expected.

"Do not open your eyes, Soul." There was a touch of humor to her voice that Soul found he rather liked.

"Fair enough, little one."

Soul dozed for the rest of their bath waking only to snort when the smell of flowers became overpowering. Maka was having fun with the soaps and had even decided to wash her hair. She wasn't sure how the soaps worked, there must have been magic involved, she decided eventually but she enjoyed the one that smelled like honeysuckle the most.

She'd been a bit alarmed when the dragon had left his bench to dive under the water but he kept a respectful distance from her and emerged with his back turned. Through the steam and the strange light, his scars stood out against the tan of his skin and Maka wondered about the story behind each of them. She wondered the most about the scar on his chest though; it looked as though it should have been a fatal blow.

"Come little one, if you stay in any longer you will be a fish." Soul laughed when instead of leaving the water she sank up to her nose and pouted at him. "Well, I'm getting out," Maka yelped and spun while Soul continued to laugh at her. "I don't understand the need for modesty, little one."

"It's the principle!" She spluttered.

Soul quickly dried himself off with the thick cottons he kept by the pool before securing one around his waist. "It's skin, you have it as well. Now come dry off."

"No looking?"

"No looking." He sighed but closed his eyes and held out a new cotton cloth for her. It was easier to humor her than to fight, even if fighting was more fun. Soul yawned and felt the cloth being taken from his hand.

"Thank you." Maka hesitated before her resolve steeled when she saw the angry red cut on his arm, "Soul." She dried off quickly and wrapped herself in the warm cloth. "I'm decent."

"You're welcome, little one."

She sat by the fire with her hair down to dry while he looked at her shoulder. He'd thrown another shirt at her, this one a deep purple and simply pulled on a pair of pants himself leaving his torso bare. Soul brushed her off each time she tried to get him to tend to his own arm, what had been a nasty looking cut an hour ago was now pink at the edges with new skin. Even her shoulder was practically healed. "It's my magic, little one. It's been healing you." He was gentle as he rotated her shoulder, "Part of why I'm so tired," he said while fighting back another yawn. "Been using a lot of magic lately."

"Why heal me though?" Maka asked. Soul seemed satisfied and let her arm go.

"You think I made the choice?" He laughed to himself and shook his head, "The magic does what it wants most of the time. It wanted to heal you and so, it did." The fire crackled behind them and Soul blinked tiredly.

Maka stood, took his hands in hers and tried to pull him up, "Go rest." He looked at her quizzically and didn't budge. "Dragon," she tugged again, "Go rest." He smirked.

"Call me So—"

"Soul! Go rest, you're falling asleep sitting there." Her mouth was drawn into a line and she tugged on his arms again. It amused him that she was careful not to tug too hard on his injured arm. Soul finally let her tug him to his feet, causing Maka to stagger backwards and pout at him.

He grinned at her, "You're very demanding, little one."

"And you're very tired. Sleep." He shrugged but stumbled to his nest while Maka curled into her own furs. "Good night, Soul."


	8. Flight

AN: ANIME BOSTONNNNNNN and Chapter 8. Love me.

Did two of you come up and high five me while I was in line? Was that a thing? Who did the thing? Cause I've been trying to figure it out. But yes.

Enjoy chapter 8 shenanigans.

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She was perched on a pillow by the hearth, drinking tea, with one of his more recent books in her lap. It had been almost a week since the incident with Hiro and while it had taken time for both of them to settle they were becoming amiable. Soul still teased her mercilessly, but Maka was less afraid of him and simply put up with his juvenile ways until she became fed up enough to begin throwing things. Their spats usually ended with an offering of tea, despite the lack of honey.

He was still groggy and she'd giggled at his bedhead. Soul scowled half heartedly on principle but turned away to crack his back and hide a grin. Maka just rolled her eyes at the dragon's back, he looked less like a ferocious dragon and more like a hound that had just been woken up after a good nap. After cracking just about every bone and rolling his shoulders, Soul began to take inventory of his cave.

He, by no means, felt a need to keep his home organized, but he did prefer a clean nest. It was more of an organized chaos. A breeze blew into the cave, fluttering the pages of the book that Maka was reading and carrying the scent of rain and the first of the spring storms. Soul hadn't been planning on going out again so soon but it would be necessary, the spring storms, while not nearly as cold as the winter, were miserable in different ways. The strong winds were fun to fly on sometimes, but the temperature changes could make for sudden, startling drops that still made him uneasy.

The storm would hit in a day or two but he would rather be prepared beforehand. He'd been caught by surprise before and hunger was one thing that he did not tolerate at all. Soul looked back over his shoulder and watched her read for a moment.

"Come, little one, we're going out."

* * *

It was perfectly acceptable to begin drinking before noon, but even the barkeep had looked at the knight oddly when he ordered spiced wine at nine in the morning. Most patrons were ordering breakfast and brewed hot drinks, but this knight was remaining steadily drunk and kept bemoaning the same story of a damsel that did not wish to be rescued from a dragon to anyone within earshot.

"She said she wasn't picking it! Said that she was just trying to save my life! As if I, the great Hiro, need saving by a woman!" He shook his raised fist and the barkeep rolled his eyes. "But have you ever heard such a woeful tale? A foolish maiden staying to be devoured by a dragon? How could she ever bear to look at those heinous red eyes? Or those disgustingly colorless scales?" Hiro appeared to be on the verge of tears but the barkeep was more concerned with the man who had just choked on his drink in the back corner. The woman with strange circular tattoos on either side of her mouth he was with started to thump him on the back, but was looking at the knight with interest. "Perhaps she had been driven mad already by that foul creature, in which case I am quite glad I should not have to bed a woman quite out of her mind. That would be no fun at all." He lay his head on the dirty bar with a sigh after draining his wine.

"Tell me more about this dragon, knight." The barkeeper scurried off when the man who had been sitting in the corner joined the drunk knight. He made for an imposing figure and his eyes did not match as they should have, the barkeep avoided looking too closely. There were some things that were better left unknown if the "no future" tattooed over the strange eye was any indication. "Was it really colorless with red eyes?"

"Just so! Pale as a cold death and eyes of blood." Hiro's true poetic side had a tendency to make itself known when drunk.

"And just where can this dragon be found?" Free asked while nodding to the little witch with whom he kept company. Their Mistress would be most pleased to know that they had finally located the dragon, Soul Eater.

* * *

Flying, Maka found, was terrifyingly wonderful. She was quite envious of Soul and could understand why he seemed to become irritable when grounded for too long. It was cold in the sky and the clouds left her shivering each time they flew through them despite the many layers Soul had wrapped her in, his cloak last of all. It seemed to have been treated with beeswax, for it repelled the water that collected on her shoulders throughout the trip. He'd been oddly gentle with her when he swung it around her shoulders and fastened the penannular brooch just over her heart, even going so far as to fluff the furs closer to her neck.

"Whatever you do, little one, do not let go. And refrain from screaming, it will not end well for either of us."

Soul had shifted, stretched his leg to test how well healed it was and then settled down on his belly to allow her to climb up.

She was sitting at the base of his neck in the indent between his shoulder blades just above his wings. There were several spines for her to hold onto and while she had tried to reassure herself that it would be similar to riding a horse. It was nothing like riding a horse at all. Soul walked slowly out of the cave, allowing her to adjust and become used to his gait, he rumbled in what Maka assumed to be a chuckle when she squeaked and gripped at him. She was a passive passenger whereas if she were at the base of his skull she would have been able to lean over and smack him for laughing.

When they had approached the overhang she had called his name, worried. His response was to crouch down and leap off the side of the mountain. Maka ignored his request not to scream but it hardly mattered, the wind tore her voice from her mouth as they plummeted to their deaths. But his wings unfurled, forcing them straight back up into the air where he settled into a gentle rolling, swooping motion that evened out the faster they went.

Soul risked a glance back and rumbled again, his little one had her eyes firmly shut and her knuckles were so white around the spine she was clinging to that they matched his scales. It probably wasn't very nice of him to have done that to her, but she was still on his back and Soul felt something a little similar to pride that she had managed to hold on.

Maka wanted to glare at him, but that would mean opening her eyes and the prospect of seeing how high they were terrified her. She wondered briefly if she would be able to see her town, and that was enough to get her to peek. All she could see was white though, a thick misty white all around them that moved with each beat of Soul's wings. "We're in a cloud. I'm in a cloud!" Fear forgotten momentarily, Maka beamed. They burst from the cloud and Maka realized that she wasn't afraid.

The sky was dotted with clouds and Soul seemed to like to play in them, sometimes diving head first into them or skimming his wings along the edges to disrupt them. Maka giggled when he rumbled and watched the forest below them speed by. The wind brought tears to her eyes and her cheeks felt raw from the cold wind but Maka found herself hoping that this wouldn't be the only time Soul would take her flying.

It couldn't have been more than twenty minutes before Soul began to slowly descend into a clearing in the woods, Maka could see the smoke from a nearby town not far in the distance. Landing was a smooth affair but her knees felt weak when she slid down off of Soul's back. He shifted down and grinned at her before stealing back his cloak. The sun hadn't burned away the mists that wound through the trees and the air still held a chill to it.

"Thank you, Soul. That was incredible." Her sincerity and smile surprised him, in return he offered her his arm as they walked through the woods and towards the town Maka had noticed from the air.

As they walked Soul lay down his rules to which Maka rolled her eyes and promised that _yes, she would behave_ and _no, she wouldn't reveal his other nature._ Her cheeky grin earned her a halfhearted growl.

Maka glanced at him and trusted that he would keep her from falling over a branch or root, "But what of your hair and eyes? Even your ears are slightly pointed."

"This town is accustomed to me, they know better than to ask questions and I have never been bothered about my appearance." He pulled her closer to avoid a large rock in her path that would have tripped her.

It wasn't a long walk and the tall leather boots he'd found protected her from the wet underbrush and the long coat that came to her knees kept her warm. Soul didn't seem to care much for the low hanging branches that dripped water onto his head but he refrained from swatting at them. They emerged onto a well worn path and continued towards town.

"There must be some mistake, this town is over half a days walk from my village, how could we possibly be here?" Maka was stunned, to have traveled such a long distance in such a short amount of time! Her father had taken her here on her fifteenth birthday to buy her books that she hadn't been able to find in their own town. Even on horseback they had traveled for half a day and had stayed the night at an inn to rest the horses so they could travel back the next day.

"Flight is quite fast, little one; I have the luxury of not worrying about things like roads." He smirked at her. "As the crow flies, I can easily reach the boarders and even the sea."

"I am envious, I have never seen the sea nor crossed the boarders. I've read everything I could and I had hoped to see it all someday, but then there was a certain change of plans." Maka returned his smirk and nudged his ribs.

"That, little one, was your own fault." He chuckled but continued, "Perhaps someday, if you are very good, I will take you to see the ocean. I believe you will enjoy it."

"That would require that you not eat me."

"Like I said, if you are very good, but considering your tendency to hit me with books." Soul gave her a toothy grin. Maka scowled at him.

They heard the main street before they saw it, merchants yelling their prices, people haggling and arguing and laughing. It was bustling and overwhelming after being cooped up in the quiet of the cave. Maka moved just a bit closer to Soul as they entered the fray. As with flying, as soon as Maka acclimated she was dragging Soul from stall to stall to look at knickknacks, food, and everything in-between. He found her enthusiasm amusing and almost contagious each time she found a new shiny bobble to look at or play with.

He was polite to a fault and though she kept being distracted, Maka noticed that he moved differently. She'd seen the same tilt of the chin somewhere else, but she couldn't place it. When he got into an argument over the price of meat, Maka worried that he would snarl or give himself away, but the worst he did was roll his eyes, thank the seller despite the disagreement and move onto the next stall that had what he wanted.

"You seem very well socialized." She commented lightly, her hand still resting in the crook of his elbow.

Soul glanced down at her, "I wasn't raised in a cave little one." Was all he said and she didn't press for more.

They found lunch outside and Soul even indulged her craving for something sweet, much to Maka's surprise. He had laughed at her before stealing a bite of the custard himself. He had groaned when she found the book seller but had browsed the shelves as well. Soul watched to see if his magic gravitated towards any books in particular or if any were masked to a non-magical eye. Nothing of consequence beyond a obnoxious frog cookbook that reeked of witch caught his attention though. He turned his attention back to Maka who was too busy trying to carry every book she could touch to notice how he smiled gently at her.

He raised an eyebrow at her sheepish expression and held up two fingers indicating that she could have two of the books in the stack that she was holding. Even though he knew that at some point the books would most likely be thrown at him, it was worth it to see her smile at him. He paid for the books and handed the wrapped parcel to her with a grimace. "I am aware that it is futile, but I feel the need to say that it will not be polite to hit me with books I bought for you."

"Well perhaps if you are very good, I won't have to!" She smirked and demurely walked out of the shop leaving him to shake his head.

When he was satisfied with their purchases, he had even remembered honey for the tea, they began to walk back to the clearing in the woods. Maka had enjoyed herself but being around so many people was exhausting. She cradled the books to her chest and had even insisted that she carry one of the packages of food. Once back at the clearing, Soul gave back the cloak and shifted back into a dragon. He easily held everything, even her books, which made him roll his eyes, in one claw and waited for her to settle herself on his back.

The flight back was more relaxed, Maka watched the sunset and the colors play off the clouds they flew between. They landed back at the cave before dark and again Soul waited to shift down until Maka was safely off his back. When the mists dissipated Maka approached to help carry their things back into the cave. Soul watched her for a moment, the warm sunset light playing on her hair and he noticed that it shone gold. He blinked and turned his attention back to the packages.

"Soul?" He grunted but didn't look at her, "Thank you." Soul finally turned to face her, just as she was standing on her toes to kiss his cheek, when instead she caught the corner of his mouth. They stood for a heartbeat before Maka blushed furiously and quickly stepped back a hand covering her mouth in shock. Neither saying anything, but even the tips of Soul's ears felt hot and he imagined his face wasn't much better than hers. She turned quickly and went into the cave, books and another box clutched tightly to her chest.

He stood blinking for a few moments until his face didn't feel quite so red and gathered up the remaining packages and followed her into the cave.


	9. Velvet

As Soul predicted, the spring storm hit two days after their flight. Even from within the warm cave they could hear it against the mountain. Maka moved her nest closer to the entrance so she could read in comfort while listening to the rain; Soul had rolled his eyes at her strange affection for the noise.

It was fine for the first two days, but on the third he grew tired of lounging in the cave. Maka no longer rose to his insults and to his dismay had mastered ignoring him and he found it hard to sleep when he was so riled up from doing absolutely nothing. He'd disappeared for a while into the lower levels of his cave to inspect his hoard, but it didn't amuse him like it used to. He found himself thinking more about the small woman with hair that shone gold in the sun than the bright but cold jewels and riches he had collected over the years.

In a last ditch effort to distract himself from his little one and the overwhelming boredom that loomed, Soul entered one of the smaller nooks off of his great hoard. There were strong wards that lined the walls and sealed the room off, nothing could enter without wearing several runes and nothing could see into the room through any reflective surface. The other spells he'd cast made sure that nothing got out either. There were several books that still called for their less than savory owners or authors, begging to have their dark spells used and contracts made.

He'd made it a personal mission to try and collect books of dark and black magic, not to learn from them, but to keep others from using them. Soul hadn't been able to find any recently, but his collection was vast beyond that of most witches or wizards. His instincts demanded that he gather gold and jewels and other things of worth and while it didn't always feel natural to hoard books or hold them at such importance, his magic didn't protest. As he had learned to control his magic he had been able to train it to look for books with dark auras.

The last book he had found had been in the Southern most part of his territory and had been owned by a murderer. His soul had been so warped and tainted with the magic from the book, Soul had barely been able to choke down his soul. It was the first volume in a set of three and it was not the one he wanted, though he was pleased to have found it and able to seal it away from the world in his vault. Soul was after the final volume but hadn't been able to find it.

He scoffed at the books; if their spells didn't protect them he would have burned them all to ashes. "Wastes of space." He muttered before turning back to the piles of gold that lay in his great hoard. The thought crossed his mind to bring something sparkly back up to his little one to amuse her with, but he wasn't sure she would even look up from the book she was reading and he didn't want her to reject or ignore anything he showed to her. It would be a blow to his pride in his hoard, and while she was only supposed to be his pet, he did care what she thought, to his absolute horror.

Though she seemed very impressed and content with the collection of books he had in the main cave and that did please him, even if it meant that she ignored him. Soul wandered back to the main cave to try his luck at teasing his little one into paying attention to him. In the past he'd just napped through the spring rains but now he had someone else to entertain him.

"Little one," he drawled, he was a dragon and dragons absolutely did not whine, Maka though would argue that dragons did indeed whine and were downright needy when it came to attention. But she humored him and glanced at him from over the top of her book, he'd left her alone for most of the afternoon, disappearing down into the lower levels. His hair wasn't wet and he smelled of metals and dust so she assumed that he hadn't been to the warm pool but off doing whatever dragons did.

He was rolling his shoulders it seemed unconsciously and didn't quite know what to do with himself. It had been several days since their flight and Maka took pity on him. "Lie face down in your nest." She said as she marked her page and put the book down.

"Why, so you can stab me in the back and run away?" He was smirking but did slump down into his nest as she asked. "Or worse yet, hit me with another book?"

Soul watched her approach him, her bare feet quiet on the carpets. She had come to greatly enjoy the freedom of movement that the oversized shirts she wore as dresses provided. He greatly enjoyed how much leg they happened to show.

"Don't tempt me, Soul." Her tone was light and he heard more than saw her smile. "And I changed my mind; sit up and cross your legs." He groaned and made a great deal of repositioning himself but was curious as to why she was sitting behind him.

"You aren't seriously going to stab me in the back, right?"

"Soul, if I were going to stab you, I would have done so while you were snoring last night."

"I do not snore!" He looked at her horrified and then scowled when he saw how hard she was trying to keep from giggling. "You are cruel, little one."

"Says the dragon." Maka sang as she gently placed her hands on his shoulders. Soul tensed for a moment before her thumbs began to rub circles through his shirt. She slowly worked her way to the base of his neck, nimble fingers finding each knot and gently but surely working it out. Soul slumped forward more and more as he relaxed, Maka made little humming noises whenever she found a particularly large knot in his back but she never got impatient or pushed too hard. Soul grunted when she undid something between his shoulder blades that had apparently been bothering him without him ever knowing what and finally fell sideways.

Maka laughed at him but he was too at ease to even care and allowed her to reposition him so he was flat in his nest as he had been before. She kept working down his back using her knuckles on the more stubborn areas and then soothing them with her fingertips. Soul sighed and wondered briefly if she would be able to do this for his wings when he was a dragon.

"Little one," his voice was partially muffled by the velvet pillow he was using but she hummed that he had her attention while she continued to work. "Do you still think me a vile monster?" Her fingers stopped moving on his lower spine and she wondered where such a question had come from.

"I have not called you such in a long time, why do you ask?"

Her fingers resumed their quest to completely melt his back and possibly his mind. "I realize that from your stand point, especially in the villages, I must be detested for what I am." Maka was unsure what to say, so she said nothing. "I could eat any soul that I wish, the best people the same as the vile. But then I really would be a monster."

"You explained that you only eat the souls of the wicked. You don't need to say more." Maka tried reason with him, unsure of what he was really trying to say.

"But even so you still thought me vicious." Soul cracked one eye open to look at her.

"Since when you do care what I think?" She asked meeting his gaze.

He blinked and closed his eye, "I'm not sure."

Maka found another knot to work out. "You chose to eat the souls of those who are terrible people, you play a god."

"No." His answer was immediate, "I am not and I do not play a god, little one. The souls that I eat are different; there are times when they are barely even human. I am," he faltered for a moment but Maka couldn't tell if it was because of the knot she was working out of his back or because of what he was trying to say. "I am a dragon, I can see the difference between the healthy soul of a good person and the twisted and sick nature of someone who has done things that are unforgivable."

"Like a cat seeing the weaker mouse."

"Did you just compare me to a cat?" He would have opened his eyes but she had found a rather difficult knot to work out and it was borderline painful.

"I have said much worse things about you and you are insulted now because I compared you to a cat?" She pressed a little too hard and Soul cringed. "Sorry." Maka offered sheepishly. "For being what you are, no; you are not a monster. But you are a monster in that you are a dragon." Soul's heart almost stopped while she spoke. "We're afraid of you in the same way that a mouse is afraid of a cat."

"I'm not a cat." He murmured.

"No, of course not," she rolled her knuckles on either side of his spine and he groaned happily, "you're much more of a kitten." Maka giggled when he tried to bury his head more in the pillow. "I don't think you're a monster though, since you seem to care what I think."

She said lightly and then became flustered with the entirety of the situation. "Despite the fact that you haven't called me by my name and therefore may still be thinking about eating me!" Maka huffed when he chuckled.

"I thought you liked being called little one."

"In preference to being called damsel, oh stop growling you're making yourself tense again and undoing all the work I just did!" She dug her thumbs in to try and preemptively prevent anymore knots forming at the mention of the stupid knight.

"It isn't an insult if that matters, you are just little in comparison to me," he paused and turned his head completely to look at her sitting at his side, "Maka." Soul finished with a small grin. Surprise was written clear across her face and she looked downright adorable. Soul collapsed back into the pillow so he wouldn't do anything stupid. They fell into a comfortable silence as Maka continued to work on his back.

"There, I've done what I can, tell me if your back starts to bother you again, here especially." She poked between his shoulder blades and had to stifle her giggling when he grumbled sleepily. "Nap time?" Soul grunted and rearranged the pillows around his head. There was more rustling and a pillow that he'd been using was taken away, making his head fall to the side.

"And what do you think you're doing, little one?" He watched her arrange the large velvet pillow as she wanted and then stole one of his blankets as well. "That was my pillow."

"You have plenty of pillows."

"Yes, but I like that one."

"Well so do I." Maka grinned at him but it was mostly hidden by the overstuffed pillow. "And what does it look like I'm doing?"

Soul blinked, "Taking a nap?" She smiled at him, nodded and then settled farther into the pillow and pulled the blanket up to her nose. "I guess you can use that pillow."

"Thank you, Soul."

"You're welcome, Maka."

* * *

She lay curled into a tight ball in her nest, shivering and trying not to chatter too loudly. The temperature had plummeted as it tended to do in the early spring and even though she was buried under all the blankets in her nest, Maka was still freezing. The velvet pillow she had stolen from Soul a week ago retained little heat, though it felt nice on the side of her face. She tried to bury her face in the pillow to rid herself of the small smile that came with thinking about the stupid thing.

Soul had bemoaned its loss, claiming that it was one of his favorites, and had attempted to playfully steal it back on three separate occasions. Each try had ended with Maka swatting him over the head with it while he laughed at how protective she was. She also may have discovered a ticklish spot on him, though he vehemently denied it. They both knew that if he really wanted the pillow back he could demand it or simply take it by force, but he never did. Instead he seemed to use it as an excuse to get close to her and a reason to invade her personal space and touch her.

Maka had noticed as they became more comfortable with each other, especially now that he had said her name, that he was rather touchy-feely for a dragon. It had started with small brushes of his fingers when he handed her a mug of tea with honey, tucking her hair behind her ear, or gently tugging at the sleeve of her shirts to try and get her attention while she was reading. Maka didn't ask if he meant anything behind the gestures, even when he had taken to sprawling out next to her to drink his tea or even nap, partially because she was afraid of his answer and she didn't want to be rude. He really was quite considerate when he wasn't being an annoying lizard.

She shivered violently and made up her mind. He wouldn't mind, she decided, and sleeping through the night without freezing to death would be worth any of his teasing in the morning. Maka picked up her velvet pillow and dashed from her nest to Soul's as quietly as she could. He was buried as well; she could just see tufts of his white hair sticking out from under the quilts and furs. What she was about to do struck her and she began to doubt. Would he be ok with this? Maybe if she just snuck in and then back out before he woke up? She just needed to warm up and slipping into his nest had seemed like a good idea while she had been shivering alone in hers.

Her toes were numb and her knees were going to start knocking together if she didn't get under a blanket soon, be it his or hers. Maka cursed silently and knelt down to pull back the many layers of Soul's nest so she could slip in and hopefully steal some of the heat that seemed to radiate off of Soul.

She was just about to shimmy down the rest of the way when he turned over to blink tiredly at her. Maka froze, her shirt was up by her hips, her legs just under the blankets and his hand was almost brushing her calf. "What are you doing, little one?"

"I- I was cold." Maka chattered. His eyebrows rose and then he yawned, too tired to care about her reason. Soul tugged at the hem of her shirt as he rolled over and allowed Maka to take his warm spot in his nest. He yawned again, turned his back to her and hoped that he could rest now. He could feel her curling up under the covers and sigh happily while he waited in the cool part of the nest. She shuffled, turned, shuffled again and Soul closed his eyes hoping that sleep would come back to him.

He wasn't so lucky. There were three light pats on his shoulder, soft enough that if he had been asleep he wouldn't have noticed, but since he was awake and annoyed with himself because he was nice enough to give her the warm spot, he grumbled out, "What little one?"

"Soul?"

He glanced over his shoulder at her, she was pathetic and chattering and far too precious for her own good. Soul rolled over again and pulled her against him. She was too cold to deal with the world and he was too tired. Curling around her small frame was simple and she relaxed against him almost immediately, sinking into his warmth and sighing contentedly as her shivering subsided. "Sleep, little one. You'll be warm in a moment." He whispered against her hair before letting sleep claim him as well.


	10. Rumble

**AN: **Sorry this took so long. But without further ado, chapter ten!

* * *

"We found the dragon." The castle was in ruin and the old stone walls held the chill of deep winter. The air was damp and cold on their skin, Free stood a half step in front of Eruka as they walked down what once would have been a great hall. It had taken them several days to journey from the pub where they had met the knight to their Mistress' castle, but the miles had melted away beneath their feet as they dared to hope.

"Maybe, maybe this will please her enough to let us go, Free!" His little companion was excited, bouncing at times and smiling for the first time in months. They had been sent to scout for old magic, special herbs, and any information they could gather. Finding the white dragon was a long term assignment, though they were aware that the chances of actually finding it were slim. Right up until the knight opened his mouth.

"Did you now? Just when I'd thought I had no more use of you." She was hidden in the shadows away from the light that filtered through the broken roof. Water dripped onto the stone floor from wooden beams.

Eruka shivered behind him, "He has made a home in the Western mountains, a village sacrificed a girl to him and he has kept her as a pet."

"Then he has grown soft." There was a slight hiss to her words that always made Free's blood run cold. If he and Eruka were not bound by force to serve the witch they would be over across the sea and as far from this terrible place as possible.

"Indeed, Mistress. It would seem so, if it pleases you my Lady-." Free stood still as something moved behind the throne. He couldn't hear Eruka breathing; his own heartbeat sounded too loud in his ears. It appeared as though the entire wall were shifting, a great rippling of what he had assumed to be stone but instead was massive black scales moved farther into the dark. The chill in the air became even more apparent and the smell of death threatened to choke him.

"Leave, while I am still pleased with the information you have brought."

Eruka tugged on Free's hand as he stood frozen; whatever crouched in the shadow of the Lady Medusa Gorgon frightened her more than the lady herself. Its magic was stagnant and viscous, she felt tainted from having been in its presence. She stifled a deranged and panicked giggle that threatened to escape from her throat as Free followed her quickly away from the insanity that leaked from behind their Mistress. They would live to see tomorrow but Eruka feared for the coming future.

* * *

Soul woke up lazy and warm. Maka was still asleep in his arms and they had become hopelessly entangled during the night. A smile tugged at the corners of his lips, it felt nice to have her tucked up against him. His little one fit in his arms so well, it was hard to tell where he began and she ended. Soul nosed her hair and pulled her just a little closer as he breathed in her warm and floral scent.

He was about to fall back asleep when he jolted awake; Maka would not appreciate being cuddled in such a manner. He made to remove himself, unwrapping and unwinding from her, it was difficult and he doubted he could completely remove himself without waking her, but it was rather fun to try. Almost free, except for one leg still trapped between hers and the arm she was using as a pillow, Soul tried to pull away, but Maka made a small noise of protest and clutched at his shirt to keep him close.

She blinked at him for a moment, he had woken her up, and then deliberately hid her face against him and shifted until she was as close as they had been. Soul looked at her for a moment, his little one really didn't want him to let her go. Maka tugged on his shirt again and shot him a look that spelled retribution if he didn't lie back down with her, which made Soul chuckle, she was far too cute sometimes. Curled back around her properly and holding her close, Soul let himself close his eyes and truly enjoy her warmth.

His heartbeat was strong under her ear; the steady rhythm had lulled her to sleep last night and it was be easy to lose herself back to sleep after being woken up early by Soul trying to pull away. It was kind of him to make the effort, but she was more than happy to lie in his arms and steal his warmth. It even felt...safe. She smiled, tucked under his chin so he couldn't see. There was a rumble and Maka thought at first that it was thunder from the storm but it wasn't quite. It was almost like the rumbling laugh that Soul had when he was amused as a dragon, but it wasn't quite the same. It grew louder each time Soul exhaled and inhaled and Maka finally realized that it was coming from the dragon himself; she could feel it under the cheek she had pressed to his chest.

Maka went rigid. Had she misjudged? Did lying with her really upset him so much? Had she overstepped? Was he finally going to eat her? Soul seemed to notice her stiffness and tensed underneath her. The noise stopped abruptly. "Little one?"

Maka pulled away and sat upright, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean! I was just really cold, and oh please just don't eat me!" Soul looked utterly baffled and kept looking between her and his chest.

"Little one, I'm not going to eat you."

"But you were growling!" Maka pulled farther away.

Soul looked at his chest again, eyebrows furrowed. Their legs were still tangled together when he spoke quietly, almost to himself while he rubbed his chest, "But that wasn't growling."

"But if you weren't growling, why were you rumbling? I didn't mean to upset you, or, I just thought it'd be ok. You- you're so...I'm sorry."

"You didn't upset me though, I was perfectly happy." Soul reached for her and was pleased that she didn't flinch.

She tilted her head and poked his chest after a moment, "You're happy?"

"Well I was until someone decided to poke me. Stop that, little one." Soul swatted her hand, but he was grinning.

"Oh heavens, you really are a cat!"

"What?"

Maka was downright gleeful, pressing her fingers to her lips to keep from smiling too much, trying not to laugh. "Soul, you were purring! You're a cat!" He gaped at her and then became indignant.

"I do not purr!"

"You were! You were so happy you were purring! I can't believe- wait, but Soul, how could you not know you could purr?" Her mirth vanished. Maka leaned towards the dragon and placed a gentle hand on his arm, "Soul?"

He snapped his jaw shut and seemed to focus on a point past her. "Never been happy enough, I guess." Soul shrugged lightly and finally looked back at her. "What is that look, little one?"

Maka just shook her head and pushed him back down into the nest so she could curl back up against him. "Stupid dragon." She poked and prodded until she was pleased with their new arrangement and then smiled when he hesitantly began to purr again. Now that she knew what it meant, it wasn't unpleasant and it made her inexplicably happy to listen to.

Soul glanced down at his little one and moved ever so slightly to let his lips rest lightly against her temple. He had expected her to be trouble, he just hadn't expected how happy she would make him.

It was soft, but she felt the kiss just as much as she could feel the steady purring in his chest. Maka thought about it for a time and turned to look up at him from where she had her head on his shoulder, his eyes were closed and he looked peaceful. She leaned forward to kiss his jaw in return; his cheek was too far away and to kiss his neck felt too intimate. The purring stuttered for a moment and then returned in force; neither said a word.

His stubbled had felt prickly under her lips, it wasn't unpleasant, just a texture that Maka hadn't felt in a long time. Running a finger against it made him snort and grin down at her while she smirked at him. He nuzzled her face until she was squawking in between her giggles for him to "Stop! Before you rub my face away!" In a last ditch effort, Maka shoved her velvet pillow into Soul's face to try and separate them; her plan was foiled when he instead stole the pillow and rolled them both in the blanket.

They were still in very much the same position, just cocooned together with Soul using the stolen pillow while Maka used him as a pillow. Hardly any light filtered through the quilt and Maka allowed herself to be lulled back to sleep by the sound of Soul purring.

* * *

"Good afternoon, Sir Spirit! What brings you to town on this fine day?" The shopkeeper had always been friendly with Spirit, it was good to know other town officials: they always had the best gossip

"Just business I'm afraid, maybe a little pleasure on the side." He added with a smug grin. Spirit had been swamped with work and the occasional lady helped keep his mind off the recent loss of his daughter. The knight he had hired could have only been unsuccessful, he had never returned for the other half of his pay and there had been reports of the white dragon still floating around. There were fewer attacks, but the dragon lived and so Spirit despaired

"Caught a glimpse of that little daughter of yours a week ago, finally married her off, did ya? Could have done worse, he's a fine lord! Or a prince, which is he? We've never quite figured out his title.

Spirit whipped around to stare dumbfounded at the shopkeeper. "You- you saw my daughter? She's alive and well?!"

"Well, of course, her husband even bought her a few books, saw them carrying them around. Has she not written home?"

"She, ah- no. She hasn't, but does this Lord come to town frequently?" Spirit asked, he wondered if he could at one point catch his daughter and rescue her from whoever this man could be.

The shopkeeper rubbed his stubble, "Well, he's on no schedule, comes once or twice every few months, hard to forget those red eyes. Oi, Spirit you know how old he is? Hard to tell with the white hair. Though your little lady seemed happy enough." He chuckled and clutched at his well worn leather vest, "Though you give that girl a book and she's happy regardless, ain't that right, Spirit?"

Spirit was pale, though hearing that Maka was in good spirits and good health was reassuring. "If you see her again, will you tell her to see her Papa? Swear to give her that message, please! Please you must, tell her that her Papa loves her the most!" The shopkepper was taken aback, but nodded and agreed if only to get the other man to stop blubbering.

It was much later while Spirit lay down to sleep that he realized what was bothering him so much about what he'd heard of the man that had been with his daughter. The description, white hair and red eyes, was familiar from an old horror story that his wife had told him once. Her words came back in force: "And the scariest part is, this truly happened! The man turned into a dragon right before my great-great-grandmother's eyes! His scales were pale as his hair, but his eyes stayed the same: red as the blood he spilled." She had laughed at how Spirit jumped at everything for the rest of the night, and once again he found himself losing sleep because of a story that now seemed less and less like a story.

* * *

Can I just? BLANKET BURRITO DRAGON AND HIS LITTLE ONE!?


End file.
